Start as we mean to go on

Happy New Year! And welcome back!

One of my key personal and professional values is integrity. I have to be able to look myself in the eye and know that I am making a difference, adding value to my clients’’ efforts to make the world a better place. So when someone recently questioned whether communication is just common sense, I felt obliged to give their comment consideration (my first, internal, response being ‘how dare you!’, of course, which I quickly put aside and didn’t say out loud!).

In many ways effective communication is common sense. It’s about knowing what you’re trying to achieve, considering things from your audience’s perspective and then making your message clear, simple and easy to understand. Sounds easy, right? So it must be common sense….

Except, as I see time and again in the communication workshops I run, it isn’t always easy to everyone. Particularly when you start factoring in things like office politics and time pressures.

And that’s one of the things I hear most often. “I know communication is important, but I don’t have the time…..” It’s true that everyone is very busy and we all have long to do lists, especially now. My approach is to encourage people to think about communication as being a means to an end, not the end in itself. Once you start viewing effective communication as something which can help you to achieve other items on your list quicker, more efficiently, more easily, more impressively (to your boss), then you realise it is well worth spending a bit of time to get it right.

That does seem like common sense to me. And just like common sense, the more you practise, the more communication planning will come naturally to you. So start practising today and start the year as you mean to go on – with great communication that works well (and impresses the boss!).

Until next time

Sarah

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